Berel Lazar

Berel Lazar (born 1964) is an Orthodox rabbi of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement who serves as Chief Rabbi of Russia and chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FJCR). Born in Milan, Italy, to parents who were early Chabad emissaries, Lazar studied in the United States before arriving in Moscow in 1990 to direct Chabad activities amid the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Elected by the FJCR in 2000 to the position of chief rabbi—a title contested by rival Jewish organizations such as the Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations—Lazar has overseen the establishment of hundreds of synagogues, schools, and welfare programs, significantly expanding Orthodox Jewish infrastructure in Russia. Retaining United States citizenship, he has cultivated close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who granted him citizenship in 2006, awarded him the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" in 2014, and frequently consults him on matters affecting the Jewish community. While praised for defending Jewish interests against official antisemitism, Lazar's alignment with the Kremlin has drawn criticism from other rabbinic figures who view it as compromising independence.

Berel Lazar was born in 1964 in Milan, Italy, to American parents who served as early Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries (shluchim) in the country. His father, Rabbi Moshe Lazar, had relocated to the United States with his family after World War II, having grown up in Vienna in a non-Chasidic German-Jewish (Yekke) household that traced its roots there for generations; Moshe later embraced Chabad and became a shliach alongside Lazar's mother. Lazar was raised in a devout Chabad environment in Milan, where his parents' emissary work emphasized outreach and Jewish education, instilling in him the values of Lubavitcher Hasidism from an early age.

Lazar's paternal grandfather was Rabbi Yehuda Leib Lazar, a Chassidic philosopher and poet known for his writings on Jewish thought. Details on Lazar's siblings or specific childhood experiences remain limited in public records, though his upbringing in Italy exposed him to a multilingual, mission-oriented family dynamic that prioritized Torah study and community service over assimilation.

In adulthood, Lazar married Channa (Chanie) Lazar, an American-born woman, in 1989, and the couple has raised 13 children, many of whom have pursued roles in Jewish outreach aligned with Chabad principles. The family maintains a strong emphasis on shlichus, with Lazar crediting his parents' example for shaping his own commitment to emissary work.